Learning from other thought leaders is essential for developing your own skills, insights, and reputation. But how do you find, follow, and engage with the best sources of knowledge and inspiration in your field? In this article, we'll share some tips and strategies for creating a learning plan that suits your goals, preferences, and style.
Before you dive into the vast pool of thought leadership content, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to learn and why. What are the specific skills, topics, or perspectives that you want to improve or explore? How do they align with your professional or personal goals? How will you measure and evaluate your progress and impact? Having a learning objective will help you focus your attention, prioritize your time, and track your outcomes.
Feed two birds with one scone as you learn. Maximize your time by making the process about more than just consuming a skill, topic, or perspective. Three ways you can do this: 1. Keep an eye out for networking opportunities as you find, follow, and engage with the best sources of knowledge and inspiration in your field. 2. Leverage your learning process as a source of new content for promoting your own brand. Share your learning arc. 3. Create a win-win by learning from someone who is looking to test a new approach or hone ideas they’re working on. Your learning objectives should be multidirectional.
Focusing on learning objectives is essential, yet it's also crucial to remain open to unexpected insights. Often, we can find significant knowledge in areas outside our immediate field. This 'peripheral vision' allows us to take in diverse perspectives, encouraging creativity and innovative problem-solving. Interdisciplinary learning helps broaden our horizons, often leading to the 'eureka moments' that truly drive growth and transformation. So, while pursuing set objectives, let's also value serendipitous learning.
Once you have your learning objective, you need to find the best sources of thought leadership content that match your needs and interests. There are many ways to discover and access relevant and credible content, such as podcasts, blogs, newsletters, books, webinars, courses, or social media. You can also use tools like Feedly, Pocket, or Evernote to organize and save your content for later. The key is to choose the sources that suit your learning style, preferences, and availability.
Choose sources from beyond your field or area of expertise. The variety will keep your ideas fresh and you won’t have to work for your eureka moments. Absorb intelligence from categories that are the opposite of what you do everyday. Maintain a knowledge diet that’s as varied as what you could consume at a mall food court. Fill your mind with so many angles that it’s a kaleidoscope, and your brain will do the work of forming and shaping new connections for you. All you’ll need to do is create time and space to listen to it.
When choosing your learning sources, think of it as curating a personal museum of ideas. A healthy mix of sources, from podcasts to webinars, suits varied learning styles and provides different angles. But, push further. Consider thought leaders outside your industry, even those with opposing viewpoints. This cross-pollination of ideas can spur creativity and innovation. Often, the most game-changing insights come from intersections of disciplines. So, venture beyond your comfort zone. The unique perspectives you encounter could spark breakthroughs, promoting a holistic and adaptable thought process.
Learning from other thought leaders is not a passive activity. You need to actively engage with the content, analyze it, question it, and apply it to your own context. You can do this by taking notes, summarizing key points, reflecting on your insights, sharing your feedback, or discussing it with others. You can also use platforms like Medium, LinkedIn, or Twitter to create your own content, express your opinions, or join conversations with other thought leaders.
Gaps are gold. As you reflect, note any gaps in existing thought leadership content: → Which pain points, goals, interests have other voices failed to explore? → Where is there gatekeeping? Which information isn’t shared openly? → Are there taboo topics? Is there value hidden in the silence surrounding them? You can use these gaps to either extend your learning objectives, or to deepen conversations when you share your learning with your audience.
Engaging with content isn't just about absorbing information, it's about deep interaction. Approach it with a mindset of a creator, not just a consumer. Extract value from each piece and immediately consider how it can be applied, innovated, or synthesized into your own ideas. Practice active recall to reinforce your understanding. And don't forget to leverage the power of community - engage in conversations, debates, and collaborations around the content. This not only enhances your learning but also positions you as a thoughtful participant in the field's discourse. Remember, the aim is to transform knowledge into wisdom, and wisdom is borne out of active, creative engagement.
Another way to learn from other thought leaders is to connect and collaborate with your peers who share your learning objectives or interests. You can join online communities, forums, groups, or networks that offer opportunities for learning, exchange, and support. You can also participate in events, workshops, or mentorship programs that foster peer-to-peer learning. Learning from your peers can help you expand your network, gain new perspectives, and discover new opportunities.
The advice “don’t be the smartest person in the room" is misguided. Surround yourself with people of similar smarts, but different strengths. That’s the sweet spot. Another way to think of this is to look for peer groups with people of: → Similar intelligence → Similar values/audiences/communities → Radically different areas of expertise This way you don’t land in an echo chamber; rather, you’ll leverage each other's distinct strengths while sharing insights generously, creatively, and often.
So, while learning from peers provides a valuable wealth of shared experiences, it's crucial to not limit oneself to an echo chamber of familiar perspectives. The key to expansive learning is to actively seek out diverse views from outside of your usual network. Seek out those with contrasting industry experiences, cultural backgrounds, or interdisciplinary expertise. The unfamiliarity can provoke innovative thoughts and challenge assumptions. It broadens our understanding and pushes us to think critically about our own ideas. We can harnesss the power of 'cognitive diversity' for a richer, more nuanced learning experience.
Learning from other thought leaders is not a one-time event, but a continuous process. You need to experiment with different sources, methods, and formats of learning, and see what works best for you. You also need to iterate on your learning plan, based on your feedback, results, and changes in your goals or context. Experimenting and iterating will help you optimize your learning experience, adapt to new challenges, and grow as a thought leader.
While experimenting and iterating are key to learning, "reflection" is often missed. Analyzing and introspecting your learning journey—questioning why certain methods worked or how new knowledge fits into your understanding—can provide valuable insights. This reflection not only consolidates learning but enhances self-awareness, aiding in becoming a more effective thought leader. The journey to leadership is about understanding oneself as much as understanding the world.
The best way to stress test what you’ve learned is to experience it through conversation. Your interactions will teach where your ideas resonate, contain gaps, or can be deepened with texture. You’ll also quickly understand where you want to learn and grow more. Experiment small and often, but keep the stakes low as you work with new knowledge.
Finally, learning from other thought leaders is not only about consuming or creating content, but also about sharing your learning journey with others. You can do this by documenting your progress, challenges, successes, and failures, and showing how you apply your learning to your work or life. You can also showcase your portfolio, projects, or achievements that demonstrate your skills, insights, or impact. Sharing your learning journey will help you build your credibility, visibility, and influence as a thought leader.
Sharing your learning journey isn’t conceited, despite what some people might say. Done right, it’s radically generous. When you share what you know and your experiences acting on it, you remind others of what they could do with their talents. Sharing your trials helps others avoid mistakes. It can also inspire them to reach for bigger wins, or to better value the tiny ones. Showcasing your results helps your audience as much as it helps you build credibility. Your results have the power to transform their doubts into action and wishes into reality, but only if they’re visible. Share away!
Don’t be afraid to ask for help, whether it’s for… → Shaping your learning plan → Choosing resources → Accessing the right experts → Processing what you learn The eager, friendly helpers will always outnumber the unkind gatekeepers.